Law Enforcement

CASSOPOLIS -- The Cass County Sheriff's Office will host a National Police Week Memorial Service at noon today to honor fallen officers and the officers who continue to serve. The service will be at the Deputy Shane Britton Memorial Garden on the north lawn of the Sheriff's Office in Cassopolis. Participating in the event will be the Cass County Sheriff's Office Honor Guard and the Cass County Chaplain's Service. The public is invited to attend to remember law enforcement officers who have given their lives in service and to honor law enforcement officers who continue to serve.

SOUTH BEND - Local law enforcement officials reacted with surprise this week at comments made by Indiana State Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell regarding legalizing and taxing marijuana. Whitesell said earlier this week at a State Budget Committee hearing, “My thought is, toward the zenith of my career, it is here, it's going to stay. That's an awful lot of victimization that goes with it. “If it were up to me, I do believe I would legalize it and tax it, particularly in sight of the fact that several other states have now come to that part of their legal system as well.” It doesn't appear officials - at least in this area - are ready to share Whitesell's view.

SOUTH BEND - Juanita Dempsey, or Nita as she was fondly called by many in local law enforcement, was recognized as leaving a lasting impression on the way the city views community-oriented policing. A fixture in local law enforcement for well over a decade, Dempsey was instrumental in bringing the community police concept to South Bend and was chairwoman of the South Bend Volunteers of Public Service (V.I.P.S.), according to a commendation in her honor. She also served as president of the South Bend Board of Public Safety, which is the disciplinary arm for the South Bend fire and police departments.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The girl was 12 when the gangsters told her the rule: They would sell her for sex to men outside the gang, but members of the Somali Outlaws or the Somali Mafia would use her for free. For more than two years she was taken on "missions" to abandoned garages, men's bathrooms, apartments and hotels, enduring hours with multiple men so gang members could get money, pot or booze. Though her mother confronted two of the men twice early on and warned them the girl wasn't even 13, they continued to prostitute her. Eventually some of the gang members took her on the road to new customers in Nashville, Tenn., while the man she called her "boyfriend" allegedly used a cell phone to send images of her engaging in sex acts with men in the car along the way. The enterprise described in a federal indictment has shocked members of Minnesota's Somali community, the largest in the U.S. And it suggests that gangs known in recent years for armed robberies, burglaries and even killings of fellow East Africans have evolved into more lucrative activity, and are taking their crimes from Minneapolis to other parts of the country.

SOUTH BEND -- Only 15, Kyle Laskowski isn't exactly sure what he wants to do when he grows up -- maybe be a teacher, a cop or a stand-up comedian. But, as a participant in this week's Youth Police Academy, he knows he's getting an education unlike any other. "They let us hold a bag of $26,000 worth of crack cocaine," Kyle said. "That's pretty cool because I've never held anything worth $26,000 before, let alone crack cocaine. " More than 20 teenagers, between the ages of 13 and 17, are participating in the weeklong academy sponsored by the South Bend Police Department.

Police and anti-prostitution advocates intent on stopping Craigslist prostitution are closely watching a federal court case in Chicago. The Cook County, Ill., sheriff's department was spending so many resources investigating prostitution on Craigslist that in March it filed suit in federal court, asking a judge to both force the Web site to shut down its erotic services section, and to reimburse the department for its costs in investigating the prostitution...

ST. JOSEPH Â? A new tool is available to aid Berrien County law enforcement officers to communicate with people who speak different languages. ItÂ?s called the Speech Guard. The hand-held language translation device assists officers on patrol. Deputy Juan Mata of the Berrien County SheriffÂ?s Office initiated the purchase for four units that cost $950 each. Â?If it saves just one personÂ?s life, itÂ?s worth it,Â? Mata said. His goal is to get the units in the field and help people get the proper assistance in time if they speak a different language.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana State Police will be looking this summer for officers who want to switch uniforms. With openings for more than 200 troopers, state police plan to begin lateral recruiting, drawing experienced officers from other departments rather than signing up rookies. As of Jan. 4, the force had 1,126 of its 1,334 trooper slots filled. "We are in a competitive market," said 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten. "We are also interested in getting the best dollar value for the taxpayers as a whole.

CONSTANTINE -- St. Joseph County Sheriff Matt Lori says he plans to seek the Republican nomination for the Michigan House seat held by Rick Shaffer, who is stepping down because of term limits. Lori, 50, has been sheriff for nearly 20 years and has worked in law enforcement for 30 years. Shaffer, a Republican from Three Rivers, was elected last year to his third two-year term. Lori said he feels confident that his many years of experience as a law enforcement officer will tie in well with politics.

CASSOPOLIS -- Only days from now, snowmobilers will be out on the trails as the season opens Dec. 1 and runs through March 31. They'll find the snowmobile trails in Cass County are safer and more family-friendly because of patrols by local law enforcement agencies. And the Michigan Snowmobile Association (MSA) recently recognized the Cass County Sheriff's Office for its work and support. "We love the law enforcement on trails because the lawbreakers are the ones who don't like to see them," Larry Harris, MSA executive committee board member for Region III, the southern Lower Peninsula, said.

Do police or child welfare workers have the authority to lift a child's shirt in response to allegations of abuse? Local law enforcement and Department of Child Services officials say that without themselves hearing the child's cries, seeing blood or observing other incriminating signs, they do not have that right under their interpretation of the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment. It is difficult for many of us to accept that multiple reports of suspected trouble in the Sturgis home coupled with a May 2011 hot line call pleading on behalf of a 12-year-old "beat to death" wasn't sufficient cause for a warrant to examine the boy. It wasn't until the boy's brother, 10-year-old Tramelle, was found dead at the hands of their father the following November that the beatings stopped.

In the year and a half that has passed since 10-year-old Tramelle Sturgis was beaten to death by his father, the hope has been that the system which failed him would be fixed to help spare other children from a similar fate. Indeed, there is optimism regarding Department of Child Services reforms which passed this spring's Indiana General Assembly. The disconnect that still exists, however, between DCS and law enforcement leaves too much opportunity for a repeat of what happened to Tramelle.

Lowering the threshold for what is considered impaired driving is a good idea on principle, a host of local and state officials said. Whether any such lowering of the threshold becomes reality in Indiana, however, is far less certain, they said. The National Transportation Safety Board last week issued a recommendation to all 50 states to lower the blood-alcohol content legal limit from 0.08 to 0.05. "The short answer is if it removes more intoxicated drivers from the roadways that's a good thing.

ELKHART -- A three-year effort to target the nation's most dangerous noncompliant sex offenders wrapped up this week, the U.S. Marshals Service announced. Operation Guardian netted 345 arrests of individuals who failed to register with state authorities as required by law. In the northern district of Indiana there were five arrests, including one in Elkhart County. James Lawson was arrested Oct. 3, 2010, for failure to register as a sex offender. In 2000, he was convicted of sexual battery of a 13-year-old girl.

While marijuana use is still illegal under federal law, the general direction of state laws regarding marijuana is clearly moving in the direction of leniency. Two states in November, Colorado and Washington, legalized it for recreational purposes. Most states, however, that have relaxed laws have done so to permit marijuana use for medical purposes. The question of legalization remains highly controversial everywhere. Seven individuals, today, in our community share their perspectives.

ST. JOSEPH -- Heard of Career Exploring Post 602? If not, an open house shedding light on the post will run from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Berrien County Sheriff's Department, 919 Port St. Visitors should use the west-side door. Established by FOP Lodge 96 in the 1970s, the post invites youths 14 to 20 who have completed at least the eighth grade to explore careers in law enforcement. Post members meet twice each month on Thursday nights, with emphasis on career opportunities, life skills, citizenship, character and leadership.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana's attorney general said every school district in the state should consider having a police presence. Attorney General Greg Zoeller said Thursday he supports a bill in the General Assembly that would provide matching state grants to help schools create or expand school resource officer programs. He said these officers are placed in schools to do more than just "guard the door" and that they can become mentors for students and prevent problems before they occur.

Law enforcement agencies in St. Joseph and Elkhart counties will be sweeping roads for drunken drivers this month for St. Patrick's Day and other events associated with drinking. Officers from the St. Joseph County Traffic Safety Partnership will hold saturation patrols, set up sobriety checkpoints and engage in other maneuvers to find intoxicated drivers. The effort starts Friday and continues through March 24, which includes St. Patrick's Day on March 17. Agencies participating in the law enforcement blitz include Mishawaka, South Bend, Lakeville, New Carlisle, Notre Dame, Walkerton and the Elkhart County Sheriff's Department.

The utility man spotted the pigs first, and he called the St. Joseph County Humane Society to report possible neglect. Executive Director Dr. Carol Ecker drove out to the farm with other staff members, heading up the driveway, from where they spotted dead pigs lying in the door of the barn. So with enough cause to enter the outbuildings with county police officers and a swine veterinarian, they were horrified to find scores of pig skeletons, both inside and outside the cramped barns.

One of the most controversial bills in this year's General Assembly session so far -- Senate Bill 373, which would make it a crime to take photos on rural or industrial property -- passed this afternoon, sending the issue to the state House. Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, the author of the bill, referred to the strong criticism of the bill himself before the vote on the Senate floor. Animal-rights groups and others have decried the bill as inhibiting "whistle-blowing" potential, such as animal cruelty and workplace injustices.